Baxter,+Charles

media type="custom" key="12930348" align="center" Hard to believe anybody could ever decide to leave the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor because it had begun to seem, “a bit … small.” But that’s exactly what award-winning, contemporary author, Charles Baxter said about his move from teaching within the MFA program in creative writing at UofM to his current residency and similar teaching position in Minnesota.
 * About the author:**

Read more of my own biographical overview of him here: 

media type="custom" key="12896748" This is Charles Baxter reading an excerpt from his book //Gryphon// at a library in Minneapolis, MN: media type="youtube" key="6qow64BDQ8Y" height="182" width="300"
 * Published works:**

When I decided to read books by Charles Baxter for this project, it was mainly because Mrs. Mundy said he writes about human relationships a lot. In my life, relationships play a big role: with my family, with my friends, with co workers, with my campers, and even my relationship with myself. I also found out that Baxter is a Midwesterner and that most of his books take place close to where I live, which might make them relatable.
 * Initial Reations:**

Read more of my initial reactions to the books I read here:  

While //The// //Feast of Love// was able to unearth interactions between regular people, build a community on the page, be seductive, detailed, and identifiably Midwest, it was altogether a miss.
 * Reviews of his work:**

Read more of my own review here:  [|New York Times' Jacqueline Carey review of //The Feast of Love//] [|Exploring Fiction's Joseph Clark review of //The Feast of Love//] [|The Chicago Tribune's David Michael Kaplan on The Feast of Love] [|books.gather.com's Paul Morris on The Feast of Love] [|The New Yorker on //The Soul Theif//] [|The Atlantic on //The Soul Theif//] [|Publisher's Weekly on //The Soul Theif//] [|The New York Times's JOYCE CAROL OATES on //Gryphon//] [|Commonweal's Molly Winans on //First Light//]

I asked him in an email interview if he felt that writers have a common angst and, in an effort to comprehend how writers think so far away from reality, if he believed that in order to be a really good novelist, you also had to be a rather good rule breaker. He replied, “I’m not sure novelists feel angst any more than (say) dentists do. The thing is, literature and stories require trouble: characters have to get into trouble in order to show what they have on their souls, so writers depend on trouble (and angst) to make the stories go forward. Actually, most writers are no more happy or unhappy than anyone else. They are, however, more observant than most people, or at least fiction writers are.”
 * Interviews with the author:**

[|1997-with Atlantic Unbound's Ryan Nally] [|2003-with Barnes & Noble's //Meet the Writers//] [|2008-with bookslut.com's Angela Stubbs] [|2011-with Malacaster College] media type="youtube" key="J_jw2GYLaiM" height="182" width="300"

Charles Baxter sold the rights to //The// //Feast of Love// for a movie production to director Robert Benton//.// Made in 2007//,// the film grossed US$1.7 million, ranking #12 at the box office and was being played at over 1,200 theaters in the United States and Canada. They have changed some things, including the setting, probably because Baxter himself was not consulted in the making of the film. Anyways, here is the star-studded trailer: media type="youtube" key="6H_fmBCS5tU" height="182" width="300"
 * His Hollywood debut:**

Soren Kierkegaard was a 19th century philosopher whose work explored the emotions of humans when faced with significant life decisions. Similarly, contemporary author, Charles Baxter explores the choices siblings Hugh and Dorsey Welch make in his 1987 novel, //First Light//. Baxter’s story begins when Hugh and Dorsey are adults after having grown up in a blue collar Michigan town, but travels back into the very beginnings of their childhood. It is a classic Michigan read that rests on the author’s admiration for the Kierkegaard quote, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” **In** **//First Light//, Charles Baxter tells us Hugh Welch’s life backwards in order to show that we can only understand our adult decisions by reflecting on our childhood family experiences.**
 * Analysis:**

Read more of my critical analysis here:


 * Works Cited:**